Symbolic Horns in Images and Words

Adrian Poruciuc

Abstract

Representations of horned animals – or of horns only – belong to the earliest manifestations of man’s ritual-religious practices. No wonder that archaeologists, anthropologists and specialists in history of religions have written much on such representations, which were discovered in caves, shrines and temples of Eurasia. What this author wants to add to the opinions of outstanding predecessors is that the impressive persistence of horn-symbolism went hand in hand with the remarkable persistence of folk traditions about mythical bovines and of certain terms for horn in Indo-European and Semitic languages. Such signs of prolonged continuity also appear to have much to do with the transformation of horn-representations into signs and letters.